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A blog by Juri Urbainczyk | Juri on Google+ | Juri on Twitter | Juri on Xing

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Devoxx vs. JavaZone

Every now and then I get queried which of the Java and Web conferences in Europe I would recommend. Often, the most sensible answer seems to be: “the one closest to you”.
Nevertheless, since I visited JavaZone in Oslo in September 2014, I think it may be time to make a thorough comparison after all.
But which are the criteria? The number of rock star speakers? The volume of soft drinks available for free? Alas, I came up with the following criteria:

Variety of topics
This is especially important because most people visit conference in order to peak over their horizons or to deep-dive into certain areas. As a minimum, conferences should cover the topics architecture, mobile, methods, coding and research, while all might bear different names or might be slit up into several sub-categories.
Quality of talks
Of course, the presentations must have content and meaning and they must be given in an inspirational manner as well. These are high expectations, and not many can live up to them. Especially talks, which center around products or have a high marketing potential, tend to be boring and to be of low quality.
Choice & Availability
If you have picked up your favourite talk and you can’t see it, because the room is crammed, that’s bad. It’s even worse if there is no sensible alternative, because not enough parallel tracks are available.
Community feeling
You also visit a conference in order to meet other developers and to talk to fellow architects. This is enhanced if the conference introduces a feeling of community into all its visitors. This can be achieved via events which include all or many visitors, by special after-dinner events, by talks which address all of the community and so forth.
Organisation & Infrastructure
You need to find your way to the conference, you have to know the program, must find the correct room and you need a working wi-fi. Especially the last issue is always a source of trouble, but it’s getting more and more important every year.
Venue & after-conference program
If you want to enjoy your conference, you need good lighting, cosy seating, and a venue which makes you want more of it. And in the night you need some distraction from all the hard-brained conference stuff, in order to be fit again next day.
Food & beverages
Everyone who ever organized a party knows: food is the one single most important thing. Thre is a saying “full belly does not easily study”, but that’s even more true for an empty stomach.

For a comparison, I gave each of the conference between 0 and 5 points for each of the criteria. The result looks like this this:

Criterion
Devoxx
JavaZone
Variety of topics
4
3
Quality of talks
4
4
Choice & Availability
4
2
Community feeling
5
4
Organisation & Infrastructure
5
5
Venue & after-conference program
4
4
Food & beverages
2
5

Let me explain, how I came up with the numbers:
Variety of topics: Devoxx is in lead, because it covers nearly any topic one can think of. JavaZone is only shortly behind since the program also is very versatile.
Quality of talks: The quality is above average for both conferences. Due to the sheer amount of sessions, there are in absolute numbers more mediocre talks at Devoxx, but this does not lead to a full point more for JavaZone.
Choice & Availability: Devoxx is clearly better here because all of its talks are in English (JavaZone has Norwegian talks still). Furthermore, the conference is longer (3 vs. 2 days) and contains more parallel sessions. So, you’re in for some hard decisions at Devoxx. Nevertheless, Devoxx does not earn the full score, because it is so over crowded, that you cannot see all the talks you want.
Community feeling: JavaZone is a true community conference. The same is true for Devoxx, which is a little bit ahead, because there are Keynotes (not at JavaZone) and opening and closing talks which appeal to the whole of the visitors.
Organisation & Infrastructure: This is excellent at both conferences and also includes the awesome websites and the (mostly) working wi-fi.
Venue & after-conference program: Devoxx can gather further points here because it offers an evening program at two days. But this is reduced by the venue being too much outside of the city center.
Food & beverages: Food is traditionally poor at Devoxx and excellent at JavaZone.  Devoxx has 2 points, because of its Belgium Fries night.

Which one of the conferences to prefer? It depends on which one is closest…

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